When I first heard of indie-pop artist BØRNS last spring, I was delighted to hear what I thought to be a low-voiced British lady crooning feminine pronouns in such an electric and sugar-coated context with the EP “Candy.” Though I was disheartened when I discovered a few weeks later that BØRNS (born Garrett Borns) is, indeed, a red-blooded American male, I regularly looked to his aptly named “Candy” EP — with the breed of tight and sweet indie-pop he produced that was sung so beautifully with his higher-register voice — for a much-needed sugar rush throughout the summer.
“Dopamine,” BØRNS’ first studio album, has an equally fitting title. “Dopamine” captures much of the sugar-coated bliss of “Candy.” The songs “Electric Love,” “Past Lives” and the title track “Dopamine” pair catchy choruses with brazen, almost magical electronic production. These tracks are addictive and energetic, and their confection-like qualities are sure to get young audiences singing along and keeping these songs on repeat.
Not all of “Dopamine” is sugar and spice, however. With songs like “10,000 Emerald Pools,” “American Money” and “Clouds,” BØRNS takes a deeper, more atmospheric approach. It’s in the slower, more savory tracks that the major themes of the drug-like effect love has on people starts to show. In “Clouds” BØRNS sings, “I forget all my dreams/ I forget everyones name I meet/ I forget about time and space/ But I can’t stop thinking ’bout your face,” mirroring the inhibiting power that love shares with dopamine.
Some of these comparisons between love and drugs can seem tired or repetitive, most notably in the song “Dopamine.” The song is as follows: “And I’m craving your taste under my tongue everyday/ I keep the forbidden fruit coming my way/ I wanna feel your sugar in my face/ Baby just wanna feel … that stream of dopamine.” If you’ve listened to popular music at all in the last 30 years, you’ll realize these comparisons aren’t the freshest set of ideas. Anyone from the Beatles to Ke$ha has acknowledged love’s intoxicating power.
Overall, BØRNS’ “Dopamine” doesn’t feel entirely fresh. Aside from a few sonic flourishes in “Dug My Heart” and others, it translates much like the legions of indie-pop artists of recent times have. That isn’t to say it isn’t good. Thanks to BØRNS’ textured, high voice and slick production, “Dopamine” is still a trip, as well as a decadent indie-pop/rock hybrid that won’t be forgotten for at least a few more months.